DNR to hold CWD informational meeting in Juneau County

Jan. 29, 2013

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Written by

the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Anyone interested in learning more about the recent discovery of Chronic Wasting Disease in the deer herd in Juneau County is invited to attend an informational meeting beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Mauston City Hall.

A panel of experts on wildlife health, wildlife biology and conservation law will give a short presentation and will then answer questions and obtain input from the audience. The meeting will be in the community room at city hall, located at 303 Mansion Street in Mauston.

Earlier this month, the state Department of Natural Resources reported that a deer harvested in central Juneau County during the 2012 gun deer season had tested positive for CWD. The buck, age 4 to 5 years, was harvested in deer management unit 54B, less than two miles north of the CWD management zone boundary. It was the first wild deer from Juneau County to test positive for the disease.

CWD is a nervous system disease of deer, moose, and elk. It belongs to the family of fatal diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or prion diseases. CWD occurs only in members of the cervid or deer family, both wild and captive. Current information suggests that CWD may be transmitted both directly through animal to animal contact and indirectly from a CWD-prion contaminated environment. Recent studies indicate that CWD prions exist in the saliva, urine, and feces of infected deer.

To learn more about CWD, visit the department’s website and enter the search keyword CWD, then click on “Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in Wisconsin’s Wild White-tailed Deer.”